Hi, I'm introducing myself though I am not exactly new here. I lurked a lot back in 2022-2023 when I was suffering from brutal fissures and recovering. This board was a great help to me then, to simply know that other people were going through the same thing.

I've returned because I want to post about my perspectives two years later. I'm healed (I think) and thought others might benefit from my story. I'll put that story in a different, longer post, but here's my timeline:

early 2010's: one or two fissures, healed by themselves with lifestyle and nitro/diltiazem ointment
3/22: new fissures after travelers' diarrhea
4/22-11/22: brutal pain; extensive nonsurgical therapies fail
11-12/22: LIS surgery, hard recovery
1/23: improving
3/23: fistula surgery
4/23-11/24: physically good but still shaken

I guess that last line expresses why I'm here. Bodily I'm fine -- no pain or problems for more than 18 months. But I'm still shaken by the experience. I'll try to contribute if I can!